Beauty and the Bodyguard

Chapter 182 - Baseball Bat

Without much left to do, Lin Yi opened the browser and typed in 'Li Cihua' in the search bar. Everything was nice and proper in official news, but a couple of forums touched on the topic of Cihua's darker side…

They weren't very useful to Lin Yi, and he opened a new page to search about Miracle Doctor Kang. Lin Yi had planned on doing the research since he was about to make it big in the medical world himself, but the fact that the doctor was Xiaobo's grandfather was a bit coincidental.

Men simply couldn't have no money… The old man wasn't very generous with him, but Lin Yi never complained about that too much, even if his payments were tens or hundreds of kuai per mission… Even the funds involved in the mission were higher than the reward!

His shifu, on the other hand, was different. He'd always sent the mission rewards to Old Lin after taking the organization's cut from them.

Yet the shitty old men only gave Lin Yi his cut in hundreds… Lin Yi was used to it by that point- the only possibility was that Old Lin was pocketing the money. He was more or less a father figure to Lin Yi, however, and Lin Yi decided to just let it be while he pretended to be oblivious of it- the guy did raise him, after all, and he didn't have it that bad, with clothes to wear and food to eat…

What Lin Yi couldn't understand was why Old Lin lived life like he was poor even after pocketing the money! Was he the modern Glan Terrace or something?

(this is what showed up in google translate, no idea who that is)

He had Chu Pengzhan's monthly salary now, but Lin Yi decided that he needed an income source of his own… Who knew what was even up with this mission, after all? He had to have some sort of safety measure in place…

He was in love with his current life, going to and coming home from school everyday… with good bros at school and nice girls to fall in love with… But what if he became unemployed..?

Judging from the comments online, the brand of 'Miracle Doctor Kang' was pretty solid. What the customers weren't pleased about, however, was the shortage of the hot-selling medicine the doctor sold… The demand was overwhelming the supply, proving how miraculous the medicine was.

Lin Yi didn't know what the golden creation medicine looked like, but he was confident that Old Lin's recipe wouldn't be too far off from his. The market would most likely be split into two should he carry his plan out.

Lin Yi didn't have anything to do the next morning, and wasn't planning on driving himself to school. Mengyao and Yushu yawned as they came down the stairs, evidently staying up for the concert yesterday. Lin Yi, on the other hand, didn't see the appeal in the star- she was a little bit prettier than Mengyao and Yushu, but that was due to the effects and makeup she had had on her. Mengyao and Yushu were definitely on the same level with her in terms of natural beauty, and Lin Yi found that looking at the two girls he was living with was far better than looking at some superstar on a tv screen.

"That concert yesterday was sooo good!! Wonder when Han's gonna have one in Songshan." Yushu said, the concert still fresh on her mind.

"Songshan's not a capital city, and not a special economic one either… It's probably not gonna come anytime soon……" Yao Yao said. "We gotta buy the concert's CD later, I still wanna watch more."

"Yeah! We'll go buy it this afternoon, see if they sell any CD's near school…" Yushu nodded in agreement. "But the ones near school are mostly pirated… We'll have to go to a bookstore for the official one……"

"Lin Yi," Mengyao called, turning to face the daydreaming Lin Yi. "Go buy us Xu Shihan's 2011 concert CD if you have time this afternoon. The first part started a month ago, so they're definitely selling it now."

"Uh… okay." Lin Yi nodded as he looked at the two fans, not minding buying a CD for them- it wasn't a big deal.

"Hah, you're so smart, Yao Yao! We don't have to go so far anymore now that we have Shield Bro!" Yushu was just groaning about how far the bookstore was when Mengyao handed the whole task to Lin Yi- it was a one km trip, and Yushu was nothing but overjoyed that she didn't have to go.

"He's not receiving a salary for hitting on girls, you know! Of course we need to give him stuff to do." Mengyao said, curling her lips as she glared at Lin Yi.

"Ha……" Lin Yi smiled bitterly- him hitting on girls wasn't really her business, was it..? Shouldn't it be fine as long as he didn't hit on the Miss herself… Even followers and lackeys needed their own love life……

Lin Yi made sure to see if Tang Yin was fine at the bus stop when Li Fu passed by the slums- he let out a breath of relief when he didn't see the gangster bothering her today.

Zou Ruoming was pissed- yes, very pissed indeed!! Lin Yi and Tang Yin, a couple?!

Ruoming, naturally, was aware of Lin Yi's confession and Tang Yin's shy acceptance of his feelings- the school was only that big, after all, and there was no way a Big Four would be oblivious to an event like that.

He'd planned everything quite nicely from the start, too, thinking of starting with Tang Yin's mom as he forged the illusion that Tang Yin was his girlfriend, forcing Tang Yin to accept him after everyone else in the school was convinced that the two were a couple!

The plan wasn't even on the track yet when Lin Yi butted in out of nowhere, fucking everything up and even slapping him across the face, turning him into a living joke!!

The humiliation only sparked a deep hate towards Lin Yi- he had been planning on having his brother Zou Ruoguang teach Lin Yi a lesson, but decided to wait for a more opportune moment since it hadn't been that long ago since the Heibao Bro incident…

After all, Heibao Bro was facing charges that would put him in jail! Zhong Fabai had held the whole thing back from reaching his son, but even a man like Fabai couldn't manage to get Heibao out! It was clear proof of the gravity of the situation.

In truth, Songshan was no regular high school- it was a school with deep connections and a powerful background. Zou Ruoming could imagine Zhong Pinliang being expelled for the whole thing already if it wasn't for his uncle on the board of directors.

As a result, Ruoming held it in, waiting for the time to come… Only to have the rumors hit him out of nowhere like a baseball bat!!

Tang Yin, accepting Lin Yi's confession?! Seriously, what the fuck!! Ruoming couldn't understand- that fucking Lin Yi wasn't even that much better than him! He was equally cocky, equally tyrannical, equally infamous- so why was it that Tang Yin could choose Lin Yi but not him?!

Chapter 183 - Zhong Pinliang's Scheme

Zou Ruoming was really starting to panic at this point- Tang Yin was the an absolute rarity- one of the best gems he'd seen! Her beauty was natural, different from the girls who relied on makeup and pretty clothes- her radiance was something that came from within!!

There were really only three gems in Songshan's First School, two of which Ruoming simply wasn't in a position to be touching! He was no idiot.

Chu Mengyao's father was the chairman of Pengzhan Industries, a character who shook Songshan with every step- only people with a background like Zhong Pinliang's could even try chasing her. Even Pinliang, however, had to watch himself- that was how dangerous Mengyao was.

Chen Yushu, on the other hand… was a girl that even Zhong Pinliang himself dared not cross- Wu Xiaocan's tragedy was still fresh in their minds.

But Tang Yin was nothing like those young misses- Ruoming had made sure to investigate her family before even laying hands on her. Both her parents were workers at the bottom of the pyramid, and the father was even bedridden from an injury, while her mother worked a barbeque stand on a food street!

How would a family like that have any power at all, when the father couldn't even afford medical bills? From what Ruoming could see, Tang Yin was as good as his to take- he could even go rough on her and her parents wouldn't utter a word, not with the type of family they were!

It was because of this that Ruoming let himself loose on Tang Yin, forcing her back to the wall. As far as he knew, she'd have been his girl long ago if Lin Yi hadn't shoved himself in out of nowhere.

And now Tang Yin had accepted Lin Yi's confession- the damsel in distress scenario was as cliche as it got, but it was still very effective. Ruoming playing the villain that other day must've given Lin Yi his golden opportunity!

Ruomin couldn't help but regret how things turned out- he would've played the hero, ordering one of his lackeys to act the villain if he'd known how effective this method was!

Ruoming sighed as he sat down under a basketball pole, troubled. His lackeys were aware of his bad mood as well, and made sure to stay silent as they stood around Ruoming…

"Ming Bro, what's wrong? You look troubled." Pinliang said, noticing Ruoming's frowns and teeth-gritting from some distance away. Naturally, he had a pretty good guess why the guy was feeling down, and he recognized an opportunity to teach Lin Yi a lesson.

"Oh, Liang." Ruoming raised his head to see Zhong Pinliang, thinking that the guy was more or less as worse off as he was. He got fucked up by Lin Yi, too, and even got his father's top man sent to the police station. "Here to laugh at me, I suppose?"

"Ming Bro! What're you saying? I've always respected you, Ming Bro." Pinliang said, patting on one of Ruoming's lackeys, signalling for him to open up a spot for him. He sat down next to Ruoming.

"It's a slap across the face, Liang!!" Ruoming spat, sighing. "Everyone student here knows I'm chasing Tang Yin, and Lin Yi goes and takes her for himself! I can't swallow this shit, man."

"Ming Bro, I think you were just too reserved!" Pinliang said with a slightly pained expression on his face. "Tang Yin's family has practically no power at all- nothing's gonna happen to you if you do things rough! It would've been really easy to make Tang Yin your girl if you had made the first move and conquer her the hard way, right? I mean, I myself can't do that even if I wanted to- you know how Chu Mengyao's family is. They're even stronger than mine!"

"Man, you're right- you don't know how much I'm regretting not doing that." Ruoming said, his face darkening. "Shit, I should've done that!! It's my specialty, and I've even done it before, too."

"I know!" Pinliang said. "That bastard child wouldn't have been able to do anything if you took her as your woman from the start!"

"But it's too late now… Shit!!" Ruoming had been keeping these emotions to himself, but he didn't need to do that now that a fellow Big Four showed up. Lin Yi had put the both of them through the same shit, after all- they had a common enemy now.

"I have to disagree there, Ming Bro." Pinliang said suddenly. "It's like that saying- good rice doesn't go bad when cold! You're not too late at all! Lin Yi isn't so fast as to conquer Tang Yin in two and a half days, right? You still have a good chance!"

Pinliang wasn't a very educated person, and he wasn't sure if he'd used the proverb correctly, but the same went for Zou Ruoming- the guy had no idea what 'good rice doesn't go bad when cold' even meant, but he did see the obvious sense in Pinliang's words.

He slapped his thigh as he called out joyfully. "That's right- how come I didn't see that? It's not too late! I force myself on Tang Yin now, and Lin Yi's out of the game!! You've really woken the dreamer with one shot here, Liang!"

For the sake of displaying his knowledge of proverbs, Ruoming made sure to make up a one-liner on the spot as well.

"Good job on getting new hope for your path of love- I still gotta work hard on mine!" Pinliang said, overjoyed at Ruoming's acceptance of his advice. Lin Yi would be quite troubled indeed if Tang Yin got messed up by Ruoming… Hahaha…… Yet Pinliang made sure to still look melancholy and helpless on the outside.

"Liang, I'll make sure to repay you if things go well!" Ruoming said, holding the hope tightly in a fist. "But, you gotta help out when I ask you for advice, alright?"

"Of course! Don't worry!" Pinliang said happily, glad that Ruoming wanted his schemes- it was his specialty, after all.

With that, Pinliang made his way back to the classroom, humming a small tune as Ruoming started playing basketball happily with his lackeys…

Pinliang was almost at the door when he saw Zhang Naipao charging in his direction, his eyes lighting up as if seeing a messiah upon spotting Pinliang.

"What's up, Pao? You training for a marathon?" Pinliang joked, his mood quite pleasant from what had happened.

"Liang Bro…… Please, I beg you, save my dad… save my little brother……" Naipao said before kneeling with a splat before Pinliang.

Pinliang was stunned at what the guy was doing- where was this coming from?

"What's wrong, Pao? What happened to your dad and brother? How do I save you, can you explain?" Pinliang frowned, confused.

"Liang Bro, I beg you! Promise me you'll say yes!!" Naipao begged, still kneeling.

hohoho